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About Freddy Krueger

Freddy first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, ultimately causing their deaths in the waking world as well. However, whenever he is pulled into the real world, he becomes mortal again.

Freddy Krueger was officially confirmed as the fourth DLC character for Mortal Kombat (2011) during the San Diego Comic Con 2011 event. He was available to download on August 9, 2011.

Freddy Krueger was added into the Mortal Kombat X mobile game as part of the 1.11 update; in it, his card is named Nightmare Freddy Krueger.

Appearance

Freddy is a badly burned and disfigured being, wearing his trademark fedora, red and green sweater, black pants and shoes. He wears his custom made clawed glove, his staple weapon, though unlike in his home franchise, he wears two on both hands.

Biography

Mortal Kombat (2011):"A malevolent spirit of the Dream Realm, Freddy Krueger preys on the souls of the living as they sleep. When Shao Kahn began to steal Earthrealm's souls - souls Freddy considered his own - Freddy battled the emperor in the Dream Realm. But Shao Kahn's will was too strong. He pulled Freddy into the real world, where he was mortal, and defeated him. A badly injured yet determined Freddy fitted both his hands with demonically enhanced razor gloves. Once he has killed Shao Kahn, he will find a way back to the Dream Realm, where he will torment Earthrealm's souls for eternity."

Combat Characteristics

Powers and Abilities

Freddy Krueger possesses the power to manipulate and control his victims dreams, giving him absolute control over the Dream World. However due to being pulled from the Dream World and into Earthrealm, he doesn't have access to his full power. Freddy instead relies on his agility, surprising stamina and durability, while maintaining a small portion of his powers that allow him to teleport and use his gloves in various ways in kombat.

Signature Moves

Hell Spike: Freddy sticks his claws in the ground, causing enlarged spikes to reappear from under ground. This has Close, Medium, and Far commands. (MK 2011)

The enhanced version is called Hell Blast. Freddy's ascending claws are bigger and deal more damage. They also automatically appear under the opponent, whether Close, Medium or Far.

Sweet Dreams: Freddy summons a green orb that falls on the opponent and causes them to fall asleep for a short amount of time. (MK 2011)

The enhanced version is called Deep Sleep. Freddy summons a bigger orb that deals more damage to the opponent.

Glove Toss: Freddy throws one of his gloves off his hand and into the opponent. (MK 2011)

The enhanced version is called Power Glove Toss. Freddy throws both of his gloves off his hands, causing more damage.

Freddy Fingers: Freddy sends one of his gloves to crawl across the ground and hit the opponent's feet. These crawls make a distinct clicking sound. (MK 2011)

The enhanced version is called Freddy's Edge. Freddy sends both of his gloves to crawl, dealing more damage in the process.

Dream Shift: Freddy disappears and reappears in fire. This has Away and Towards commands. (MK 2011)

The enhanced version is called Hell Shift. Freddy can teleport farther than usual, away or towards.

X-Ray Move - What a Rush: Freddy uppercuts the opponent, then impales the opponent with his claws through the chest, breaking the ribs and puncturing the lungs. Then he swipes the opponent across the face, damaging the skull. (MK 2011)

X-Ray Move - What a Rush: Freddy slashes his opponent with an uppercut then stabs them in the chest with his glove. He then follows up with a sucker punch that breaks the opponent's jaw before slashing their face with his glove, shattering their skull. (MKX Mobile)

Other moves

Throw: Freddy grabs his opponent, lifts a finger to his mouth and whispers, "Shhhh..." before turning them around and impaling them from behind with his claws.

Tell 'Em Freddy Sent Ya: Freddy disappears from view, then reappears behind the opponent. He impales the opponent and summons a hole. He then drags them into the hole. Afterwards, the hole spews a huge amount of blood. (MK 2011)

Welcome to My Nightmare: Freddy summons a large furnace. He then stabs the opponent in the neck and stomach, and chucks them straight into the furnace. As they burn in agony, Freddy waves goodbye and shuts the door, cutting their arm off, and burning them to death. (MK 2011)

Other Finishers

Babality: A baby carriage is seen and the camera zooms in to reveal a teddy bear with four cuts in its stomach. Freddy then jumps up from behind the carriage and attempts to take a slash at the camera, but he cannot as his hat is covering his eyes. (MK 2011)

Ending

Mortal Kombat 9 - Freddy Krueger ending

Mortal Kombat (2011):"Freddy Krueger's bladed hands tore through Shao Kahn. The demonically-enhanced weapons had been more than a match for the emperor's dark magic. Though Freddy had saved Earthrealm, Nightwolf recognized him as an evil spirit, and in a Shamanistic ritual, sent him back to the Dream Realm. But that decision proved ruinous. Freddy did not resist. He welcomed a return to immortality. From the Dream Realm, he will again create a Nightmare in Earthrealm."

Trivia

Freddy is the first guest character from a film franchise to appear in the Mortal Kombat series.

Freddy's appearance as a playable guest character would mark the beginning of several guest characters from horror films making playable appearances in the Mortal Kombat series. Mortal Kombat X features Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He is also the only film guest fighter to have his original actor reprise his voice.

Aside from a "Shhh." while performing his throw and a "No!" after being thrown in front of a car during The Street stage fatality, Freddy does not speak during the game. He is only heard laughing in his intro and some of his fatalities, and he also grunts or yells in pain when attacked.

All of these effects are voiced by Robert Englund, which was not confirmed until 2017 by Ed Boon on Twitter.

Freddy only had claws on his right hand in every appearance of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. In Mortal Kombat however, he has claws on both hands for gameplay mechanics.

Additionally, his bio has stated that he needs two claws in order to defeat Shao Kahn.

The majority of the moves in Freddy's move list are named after lines he has said, and a handful are inspired by methods he used to kill his victims in the A Nightmare on Elm Street films.

Tell 'Em Freddy Sent Ya, his first Fatality, is based on the way he killed Glen Lantz in the original Nightmare on Elm Street. The move's name is actually Freddy's response to another victim, Roland Kincaid: the teenager told Freddy, "I'll see you in hell", before he was killed. The blood that spews out of the ground is likely a reference to Glenn's death in the same film, as the same thing happened when he was absorbed into his bed.

What a Rush, his X-Ray Move, is named after a line he said to Taryn White before he killed her in the 3rd Nightmare on Elm Street. The move itself is based on how he killed her.

Krueger's Freddy Fingers, Hell Spike and Glove Toss moves are the same techniques used to kill Terry Fenstein, John Doe and Rick Johnson respectively in the A Nightmare onElm Street films.

Power Glove Toss, the enhanced version of Glove Toss, is likely a reference in name to the Nintendo Power Glove, a gaming peripheral that Freddy used during the killing of Spencer Lewis.

His Tell 'Em Freddy Sent Ya Fatality is the only Fatality that can be performed anywhere in the stage.

The woman Freddy kills in the end of his ladder ending bears a strong resemblance to Nancy Thompson from the first A Nightmare on Elm Street. This scene itself is a reference to the main promotional artwork of the film, which features Nancy in bed, awake with terror in her eyes while a transparent Freddy and his clawed glove can be seen above her.

Freddy is the only character who can actually dodge Shao Kahn's Hammer Throw move without teleporting or simply jumping, with the help of the Nightmare Stance.

In a technical sense, he is the only reoccurring guest character in the Mortal Kombat games, appearing in Mortal Kombat (2011) and the mobile version of Mortal Kombat X.

Freddy's appearance in the mobile game is very different than his in-game appearance, appearing more like he did in the movies including only one razor glove.

He is one of two characters in the mobile version of Mortal Kombat X with a revamped X-Ray attack as compared to their previous appearances. The second being Shao Kahn.

In the game, Freddy will slash his opponent into the air and stabbing them in the chest with his glove, but will punch the opponent in the face, breaking their jaw before slashing them in the face shattering their entire skull.